Sanguinary
by loOkMA-iTyPeLiKeDiS
Summary: She would do anything to avenge her brother. No matter what it takes. Even if doing so could throw her headfirst in a dangerous conspiracy.
1. Prologue

_Reposted now that I've worked out the plot kinks. AU, might end up M but will be violent regardless_  
 _disclaimer: don't own gintama, but this plot is all mine_

 _/_

Sometimes, Soyo wondered why she bothered taking stupid jobs like this.

She swished her wine around her glass, fighting her yawn as the man across from her rambled on and on about some shit involving computers. She'd been hoping for at least a little bit of entertainment, but she supposed it was too good to be true. His online dating profile pic had made him look like a dishrag; she should have expected this kind of personality. Her company was trash, but at least the expensive dinner was worth it. That filet mignon had been cooked to perfection and the wine? Magnificent.

"…I'm boring you, aren't I?" he chuckled awkwardly, pushing his glasses up his nose. "I always bore the pretty ones. I guess talking about computer parts isn't the best choice of conversation."

"That's not it," Soyo said in her fake, thick French accent. She tried to muster up the energy to smile charmingly at the man across from her. She licked her lips, leaning onto the table so her boobs were pushed up and threatening to spill over the front of her silk dress. "It's just that I want to know more about your… _tastes_."

His eyes drifted down to her chest before he blinked and cleared his throat nervously. "Well that's unexpected."

"What is?" she asked curiously after tipping back the last of her wine.

He smiled, and Soyo had to bite her lower lip to keep from laughing when she caught the spinach stuck in between his teeth. "It's just that you don't seem like a one-night stand kind of girl."

"I'm not." Soyo winked, hooking her foot around his calf and rubbing it slowly up and down. "But I'm not really into relationships either."

"I'm the exception, then?" His smile turned smarmy. "Or do you say this to all the guys?"

"Oh, make no mistake." Soyo traced the rim of her glass, a small, ironic smile on her face. "You're definitely special. I want just you."

The man looked quite pleased with himself. He reached across the table and set his hand on top of hers, squeezing lightly. "Really now?"

"Yes actually." Soyo dropped the accent completely. "I mean it wasn't easy tracking you down since you like to change up your name every once in a while, but you messed up when you used the same picture on two different dating sites. Tracing your IP was a cinch after that."

With each of her words, she watched his smile slowly drop from his face. There were beads of sweat dotting his forehead, and his eyes were slowly drifting around the restaurant, clearly trying to figure out if she was working with other people.

"That fake nerd act and those glasses aren't fooling me, Nishikawa Kouji. You have quite the penchant for hacking laptop cameras of hot girls on these dating sites, huh? Yeesh, what a pervert."

"Alright. What do you want?" He growled, his eyes narrowed into slits as he stared at her. "Money?"

"Yupp. The 30K bounty on your head if I turn you in." She felt his hand stiffen on top of hers. He was twitching like he was getting ready to bolt. "Uh uh uh~ Don't try anything rash. Just accept your arrest graciously, and I won't have to use force on you."

He said nothing for a few seconds as they stared at each other. Soyo smiled at him, hoping he'd be one of the .oooooooo1% of targets who decided to give in and come with her quietly. There was a brief moment when an undertone of resignation entered his gaze, but it vanished in a split second. And she knew he was about to try to run.

Nishikawa shot to his feet with a growl and without missing a beat, Soyo yanked the foot around his calf back towards her when he tried to move. He yelled and tripped, falling backwards and grabbing the table cloth on his way down. The silverware, glasses, cutlery and all food on the table and the wine bottle went with the cloth, landing on him and the floor in a mess. The whole dining room went quiet as everyone snapped their heads around to look at the brewing commotion.

Soyo sighed as she moved and crouched over Nishikawa with her handcuffs. She'd been hoping they wouldn't end up making a big scene. She wasn't a fan of using any kind of force, but most of her targets tended to be violent and left her with no choice.

"I told you not to do anything—"

His fist flew into her face, clipping her right in the eye. Soyo shouted in surprise at the explosion of pain that burst across her face. She tumbled backwards and landed on her ass—and a fork for fuck's sake!—sure she was seeing _galaxies_ behind the assaulted eye. Nishikawa panicked as he scrambled to his feet, glancing down at her with a guilty look on his face, though he spun around and started to run away.

" _Motherfucker_!" She held her throbbing eye, watching blearily through the other one as he raced away to head down the stairs. Alright that was it! No more mercy on these stupid fucks! "Oh no you don't…"

Even if she started running after him now, she'd never catch up fast enough. She'd already slashed the tires of his car so he couldn't drive away, but assholes like him were crafty. They were good at figuring out alternatives. She rose from the ground slowly, cracking her neck and shoulders to get out the kinks. Why did they always have to run?

She made quick recon of her surroundings, ignoring the concerned waiters who lingered around her, asking if she was alright. There was an open patio on this level that seemed to be above the front door. Without hesitation, Soyo stepped out of her heels and hitched up her silk cocktail dress. She ran through the restaurant, past waiters with large trays and curious and shocked patrons as she headed to the outdoor patio.

"Madame! This is a private event! You are not allowed to—"

"Out of my way!" Soyo barked, shoving the maître d' out of the way with one hand as she barrelled through.

He bellowed in surprise and toppled over a table, spilling his tray of champagne glasses all over the tablecloth and some of the people. Soyo paid the trail of turmoil she was making no mind and hurried over to the edge of the patio to the balcony railing. She yanked herself up on it using a support beam to steady herself, her breathing uneven and shaky as she considered the distance she would be travelling to the ground. The view of the concrete waiting to meet her nearly gave her vertigo. Her stomach reeled in discomfort. Soyo swallowed hard to contain the bile threatening to rise in her throat.

"What are you doing?! This is the third floor!"

Oh she knew.

Soyo licked her dry lips, waiting and watching carefully for her time to strike. She had one shot at this and if she messed up, she'd be a stain of blood, bones, and skin on the asphalt. Okay, maybe not that dramatic, but she'd definitely break a few bones here and there.

If she survived, that is.

The top of Nishikawa's head popped out from the entrance as he stumbled out of the restaurant in a hurry. He was running and looking behind him as if searching to see if she was following. A catlike grin grew on Soyo's face and with one quick prayer for luck, she catapulted off of the balcony railing. Someone let out a bloodcurdling screech when she jumped off. It was loud enough that Nishikawa looked up in confusion. But by the time he saw her, it was too late.

Soyo landed right on him, slamming into him with her patented bellyflop jump, and he was taken down, crushed by her weight and the knee that had connected with his lower back. He wheezed in pain, the wind knocked out of his body when they hit the ground. She banged her elbow on the concrete and gasped as a shock of pain shot up to her shoulder. It felt like her shoulder had just ripped out of its socket, and sure enough when she tested it, it didn't easily move.

"Oh my God, she's alive!" Soyo heard from above her head. "Call an ambulance!"

"No need!" Soyo responded, slowly rising to her feet and waving her good arm to show them she was okay. She wasn't; her body was protesting her every movement, but this situation was quickly getting out of hand. If any authorities got involved, she could kiss her money goodbye. "This is just a prank. Nothing to see here! Continue on with your evening!"

A shit excuse, but Soyo didn't have enough time to think of a way to get out of the situation. There were too many spectators this time. Damage control wouldn't be a possibility.

Below her, Nishikawa moaned in pain and rolled over onto his back. He was gripping his abdomen and it looked like one of his feet was twisted awkwardly. His face was scratched up, and he had a bent and bloody nose. Her swan dive with him as a landing pad had really done a number on him. It was pretty satisfying to see, especially since he'd socked her in the face.

"You broke one of my ribs, you cunt…" he groaned as he stared up at her blearily. He was drifting in and out of consciousness.

"You punched me in the face," she responded impassively. "An eye for an eye. Uh, semi-literally."

Soyo slowly rotated her injured arm so her shoulder could pop back into place. The grind of bones against each other made her stomach roll, and she jolted from the pangs of agonising fire that continued to drift through her injury. With a soft pop, it went back into its proper position, and she bit down hard on her lower lip until she could taste blood. Mental note: she had to start bringing painkillers on her hunts. She tested her arm out by moving it carefully back and forth and was pleased to see the full functions had returned, albeit with the unfortunate soreness accompanying a swelling joint.

"Who the hell are you?" Nishikawa slurred groggily.

"Your worst nightmare."

She kicked him hard in the face, and he passed out with a groan.

"Now then…" Soyo brushed the gravel and dust off of her torn dress. It was totally ruined, but maybe she could at least try to salvage the expensive thing. She leaned down and cuffed Nishikawa's wrists together before stooping and grabbing the back of his collar. Dragging him behind her, Soyo walked down the street in the direction of her car. "Let's go get me my money."


	2. Chapter 1

Soyo yawned as she pushed open the door of the Mimawarigumi precinct and headed inside. She was exhausted. The whole process of completing her job last night had hit several road bumps in the form of Nishikawa waking up and trying to jump out of the moving car. When his plans had been thwarted, he'd then resorted to violence again by trying to kick her head with his feet. In the end, she'd had to knock him out again and stuff him in the trunk so he would stop making a fuss. But her bounty's client considered him damaged goods when she delivered him and had cut her payment by a fifth which Soyo had tried to dispute to no avail. By the time she'd gotten home—pissed, fatigued, and ready to beat the snot out of a punching bag—with her money, the sun was already rising. Soyo had had to head to the bank to deposit her money to pay rent, but that meant skipping breakfast, and now her stomach was clawing at her insides, growling loudly.

Some of the officers stared at her in shock as she ambled by. A few were wincing, and Soyo frowned, confused why she was getting those looks. She usually tended to garner blushes or other flirtatious smiles. Not that she was being conceited, but hunting males for bounty went pretty easily for her for a reason. They tended to be distracted by her looks.

At a rickety desk in the corner of the room near the window was Nobume, nearly buried under a pile of paperwork. Her usually well-coiffed navy locks were sticking up at various odd angles, and she looked disgruntled like she hadn't gotten a good night's rest in a while, evidenced by the fact that her eyes had sinking bags underneath them. Soyo's friend looked fed up with life. She barely glanced up as Soyo plopped in the perp chair on the side of her desk.

"Stuck on desk duty?" Soyo asked sympathetically. Nobume didn't tend to look like that unless she'd gotten in some kind of trouble. As the best officer in this precinct, her friend was usually out in the field, so for her to be at her desk meant she must have really pissed off her captain.

"Yeah." She tapped the form she was currently reviewing with the butt end of her pen. "Isaburou relegated me to indefinite paperwork for kicking a perp in the nuts."

Sounded about right. "Was it worth it at least?"

"Always." The ghost of a smirk tainted Nobume's lips. "It doesn't matter anyway. He'll crack in about a day and let me go back out there. Why are you here anyway? I know you didn't come here to make small talk."

"Nishikawa was too easy a target, Nobu," Soyo said, semi smugly. "Got anything else remotely harder?"

Nobume sighed and rose a brow as she finally looked up at Soyo. Her expression quickly morphed into one of slight horror and incredulity though. Well, for Nobume anyway. Honestly, Soyo couldn't quite tell. While she liked to think she'd grown adept at understanding the subtle shifts in Nobume's moods and expressions, one could never really be too sure since the woman had _perfected_ the art of the blank stare.

"Was it really that easy when your eye looks that disgusting and you have an arm in a sling?" Nobume drawled.

Oh right. That explained why the people on the street and in the precinct had been giving her weird looks. The pretty bad shiner from getting punched in the face and her arm was in a sling to support the dislocated elbow. Honestly, injuries like these were routine for Soyo at this point that she almost forgot she'd gotten them.

She shrugged, helping herself to one of the donuts in the box on Nobume's desk. "Perks of the job."

The murderous glare Nobume gave her could have been enough to put her six feet under. Soyo retracted her hand from the donuts immediately, instead redirecting it to the bowl of lollipops. She'd forgotten how territorial her friend got over her food obsession.

"You know, at this point, I wouldn't recognise you without some sort of injury on your body." Nobume continued as she relocated the box to the inside of one of her desk drawers. Soyo rolled her eyes. "You don't have to do the most to get these small fry. These guys aren't worth that much so it's not a huge loss if they end up getting away. But for some reason, you keep putting yourself through all this damn trouble."

Soyo unwrapped the sucker and stuck it in her mouth while she plopped her feet up on the corner of Nobume's desk. "You police officers need me. I'm the best freelance bounty hunter in this city. Without me, how would you be able to find the most heinous of criminals?"

Police were all bound by their duties within the law, but Soyo had free reign on however the hell she wanted to capture these people. And the best part was she was getting paid for her captures. So when bounties appeared in the network for criminals who were already on the Mimawarigumi's radar, Nobume always managed to secretly slip the news to Soyo so she could get them. It was a win-win. She was paid by clients to keep criminals off the street, and the Mimawarigumi could avoid wasting time and sticky legal procedures to stop sneaky individuals who tended to avoid the law like pros. In exchange, she would give Nobume leads on tough cases the police were working on or information about changes in the criminal underworld she'd heard. Granted, it wasn't a job without downsides—rising number of enemies, broken bones, the occasional bruise on her face, an inconsistent flow of money—but it was enough for Soyo to live on.

"Yes, but not if it means losing my best friend." Nobume looked around the precinct. "And hush. We don't need the whole world knowing about our arrangement."

"You won't lose me," she assured her.

Soyo had no plans of dying any time soon. She hadn't even put a dent on her goals yet, and until her objectives were fulfilled, she wouldn't be going anywhere.

Nobume set her pen down and leaned back in her plastic chair. Her arms were crossed and her lips pursed as she fixed Soyo with a serious look. "That's not my only problem about this, Soyo. Since last night, we've gotten several reports of a crazy woman who'd jumped off a balcony onto a man at a French restaurant downtown. She apparently beat up a waiter and knocked some guy unconscious and dragged him away. Short girl, long black hair, pale skin, hazel eyes, dancer's build. Sound familiar?"

"Relax, it won't be tied back to me. That could be one of several girls." Soyo picked at her fingernail indignantly. "And for the record, I didn't beat up any waiters."

"Soyo, you're going to make my life hell if we keep getting these public disturbance reports every time you capture one of the bounties. You're too reckless." Nobume sighed as she ran a hand through the dishevelled strands of blue hair. "You're lucky I was stuck doing paperwork and reading reports. I'm the only one who's seen them. I'm risking my job for you."

"Sorry, Nobu." She patted her hand apologetically. Soyo really was grateful for her friend's support in her endeavours. This kind of stuff could make her lose her job, so she was really doing Soyo a huge favour. "I'll strive to be more careful next time."

She rolled her eyes, but cracked a smile. "No you won't. Anyway, I do have something new for you. Someone is paying a small reward to catch that masked guy who's been going around delivering golden showers to unsuspecting tourists. He apparently has several apartments, but we can't get in any without a warrant and this case doesn't have enough evidence to get one. Client's name is Saigou Tokumori. Says his business is getting disturbed because of the fuckwit pervert."

"Another pervert? Can I get some variety here?" Soyo grumbled.

"There's a pretty decent price on this guy's head this time. It's about 50K yen." She ignored her quip. Nobume's brows furrowed as she rummaged through the largest stack of files. "I think it's this one…"

As she pulled out the file from the middle of the stack of documents, the entire pile tipped precariously backwards. Neither Soyo nor Nobume could stop it from falling and several manila folders fell off her desk and scattered once they hit the ground. For a moment, both Soyo and Nobume stared at the mess in disdain.

"I just stacked those…" Nobume groaned in aggravation and dropped her head on her desk, banging it a few times for good measure.

"I'll take care of the mess. Don't sweat it," Soyo said as she dropped to the ground to start gathering the files. Thankfully, the papers inside hadn't scattered too far out of or away from their encasements. "Least I could do."

"I'll still have to go through them and reorganise them later. Can you take care of that too, you know, since I was getting a file for _you_?" Nobume grumbled.

"Hey, don't get mad at me!" Soyo chuckled. "It's not my fault you…"

She tapered off when she moved another folder and her eyes caught sight of a file with a huge red 'classified' stamp plastered to the front cover. Curious, she picked it up, glancing briefly at Nobume to make sure her friend wasn't watching her snooping. Soyo flipped open the file, skimming the top, but when she got to the perp, her heart nearly stopped in her chest. She stared at it, a million thoughts racing in her mind as her grip tightened immeasurably on the file.

This was it.

This was exactly what she'd been seeking.

The name she'd been searching for for years—the only reason she'd become a bounty hunter in the first place—and it had finally popped up.

"Soyo, how long does it take you to clean up a stack of files?" Nobume said from above, leaning over to give her a wry look.

Holding the file in her trembling hand, she stood up slowly, all traces of her neutral mood officially gone. "Nobume… What the hell is this?"

She flapped the folder and when Nobume saw what she was holding, her eyes narrowed.

"Soyo, give me that file."

"Tell me why you have this," Soyo responded lowly and took a step back when Nobume stood up. Nobume knew what this meant to her. This file was dated for several months ago, yet when Soyo had asked if she knew anything, the answer had always been no. "Why didn't you tell me about this bounty?"

"Because this is not a bounty open for you since the police actually have a case open on this. I knew you'd get like this if you knew, so I didn't tell you." In one quick motion, Nobume reached over and snatched the file from Soyo's hands. She opened up her locked drawer, stashed it inside and then shut and locked the drawer again. Nobume pocketed the key and checked twice to make sure the drawer was locked in place. "This case is too personal for you, Soyo. I'm not giving you a bounty like this when you won't be in your right mind pursuing it."

"In my right mind?!" She took a deep breath and lowered her voice when some curious folks in the precinct turned to look at the brewing argument. "Nobume, this is literally all I have been looking for for _three_ years. I'm focused only on that. You know damn well I won't be distracted on a case like this."

"And that is exactly it!" Nobume hissed, poking her roughly in the shoulder. "Open your eyes, Soyo. You're hellbent on revenge; your eyes are clouded by your desire for vengeance. Your decision making and common sense will suffer from it. And that's exactly how you wind up making some reckless error and getting hurt. Or worse: _killed._ I know how important this is for you, but this is not your battle to pursue. We've got this covered. Mimawarigumi and some of the Shinsengumi are actively pursuing this case. Stand down or I'll make you."

Soyo was seething, but she let out the shaky breath she'd been holding, chewing hard on the inside of her mouth. "Fine."

"I'm going to go make copies of Saigou's bounty so you can work on that one. Focus on what's in front of you right now."

"Yeah, sure," Soyo grit out, staring at the ground, her fists clenched tight.

After a brief, terse silence, Nobume finally sighed and set her hand on Soyo's shoulder, giving her a soft squeeze. "Soyo, trust me. That case has nothing to do with what you're actually looking for. Just take the bounty I gave you and stop worrying about it. If you do, in return, I promise I will give you updates when we make some headway."

"I said fine," Soyo repeated.

Nobume hesitated for a moment, staring at Soyo in concern, but Soyo kept her impassive expression firmly planted. With a sigh, Nobume left her desk and went around the corner to go to the copy machine further in.

Soyo stood in place, waiting until no one was paying attention to them anymore before she made her way to Nobume's desk chair. She sat down in it, sucking her lollipop as she pretended to be waiting in boredom. With her other hand, she pulled a pin out of her hair and stuck it into the drawer lock, expertly manoeuvring it. Locked drawers were a cinch to pry open, and Soyo had broken into countless cabinets and doors before, so she didn't even need to look to know she was using the right motions to get that sucker open. It proved quite easy since the desk drawer was an old model with an ancient lock that was all too willing to do Soyo's bidding.

Soyo got the drawer open and discreetly pulled the file out of it. She took out the contents, folding them up and stuffing them inside her leather jacket. Then she took some of the blank sheets of paper resting on the corner of Nobume's desk and shoved them back into the folder. The folder went back into its place, she shut the drawer, and then stood slowly to leave the precinct. No one paid her any mind as she slipped out the door, unhurried and her gaze nonchalant.

At some point, Nobume would definitely find out that the information had been stolen, but for the time being, leaving the folder and putting other papers in there would suffice as a distraction. By the rate Nobume had been working on paperwork for closed cases, she wouldn't be updating the files on current, active cases for another few days. Needless to say, Soyo definitely expected some expletive filled voicemails and texts once she realised what Soyo had done.

It was no matter. Soyo was fine risking angering her friend because this pursuit was definitely worth it. She'd made a pact to herself that she would stop at nothing to achieve her goals. And now that she had a solid lead, she wasn't going to miss an opportunity to get her revenge by standing down. Nobume was an idiot if she really thought threatening Soyo was enough to keep her from this now that she could finally start the bounty she'd been waiting for.

But she couldn't do this alone. And there was only one person who she knew had no qualms breaking a few rules here and there to catch some bad guys.

She pulled out her cellphone and dialled the number practically on speed dial by now.

 _"I'm on lunch."_ Was the immediate reply. _"Call back in an hour."_

"And I've got important news you need to hear about," Soyo said dismissively, all business. Normally, she was all for playful banter as long as it helped to mask the rage bubbling inside her from the people she knew, but she didn't feel like being that fake cheerful girl right now. Not after what she'd just found. "Where are you?"

There was a deeply annoyed and exasperated sigh from the other line. _"Ramen stall by the park. Usual spot."_

"Good. I'm coming over to you. Don't leave."

 _"Can't I go one day without—"_

She hung up without another word and once she was about a block from the Mimawarigumi precinct, she picked up her pace, jaw clenched in determination to get to her destination. If Nobume thought she could stop Soyo, she had another think coming.

Revenge was within her grasp now. And she would have it.


	3. Chapter 2

Thankfully, the park wasn't particularly crowded as she crossed it to get to the ramen stall. Less people meant she didn't have to work more to fix her cloudy expression. Maybe she was acting a little dramatic, but what was she supposed to do? She hated being lied to and Nobume had done just that.

When she got past the duck pond leading to the outer part of the eastern side of the park, she spotted the ramen stall. A lone, male figure sat on the middle stool. He had removed his uniform jacket and folded it on the empty stool to his left. His right arm was bandaged, though she could still make out the faint redness of possible blood. Whatever event had him taking an early lunch, it must have been recent and painful.

Soyo walked over and plopped down in the empty seat directly to his right.

"No lunch for me today, Kojima," she told the old man running the stall when he'd walked over. "Not hungry."

Nodding but saying nothing, Kojima filled her a cup of tea and went about on his way grilling some food for his stall. That's what she loved about his ramen stall. He was a man of few words, never asked questions—no matter how odd the conversations—or inquired about his customer's lives, and on top of that, he had the best grilled food and ramen this side of Edo.

"If you're not eating because you spent all you had on rent, I'll buy," her companion said while slurping up his noodles. "But it'll cost you."

"Sougo," Soyo greeted as she set the papers she'd stolen on the counter between them. "I need a favour."

"With you it's always favours…" Okita eyed them, vexed. "I get one hour for lunch. Why do you insist on ruining it?"

"Because otherwise your life would go too easily for you. Someone has to make trouble for you, Super Sadist."

"The super sadist is clearly you," he responded as he drank some of his tea. "I'm guessing your face and arm are a result of your odd sexual kinks."

He'd spoken with his usual casual indifferent, though the mirthful twinkle in his eyes belied the fact he was joking. Maybe. Sometimes it was hard to tell with him too. His deadpan poker face could give Nobume's a run for her money.

She rolled her eyes. "Sougo, today is not the day. "

He glanced at her curiously, but dropped it nonetheless. He gestured to the file with his chopsticks. "Fine. What's this? A job?"

"Of sorts… I got it from Nobume."

Okita rose a brow incredulously.

"Fine, stole it. Same difference." She tapped on the top of the first paper impatiently. "But that's not important. Just read this."

He set down his bowl and observed the bounty at the top with a low whistle. "Five point three million _each_? You catch these two, you'll be rich. Who the hell are the targets to merit this high a bounty?"

Soyo stayed quiet, bracing herself as she watched him continue to read through the file. With each word though, his brows creased further and he looked more and more displeased. By the time he was done reading, he was full on scowling, and she mentally prepared herself for the lecture that was sure to follow.

Sougo looked up and stared at her like she'd lost her mind. "Soyo. These are Harusame assassins."

She nodded, her fists clenching. "I know."

"Unless another Harusame popped up in Edo," Okita said slowly, giving her an unreadable look, "you can't take this case. Shinsengumi and Mimawarigumi are already working on it."

"So you knew too, huh?" she muttered in displeasure with narrowed eyes. "How could you and Nobume hide this from me?"

He waved the papers around. "This is too personal—"

" _Enough_!" Soyo barked, so loud that patrons strolling in the park stopped briefly and turned to the ramen stall from her outburst. She sank back into her seat, quieting for a brief moment until the curious individuals were minding their own business and had gone back to their activities. "I'm tired of you guys saying this all the time. This is my one and only shot. Why don't you understand that I need to get my revenge?!"

"Because you'll never be satisfied with the kind of revenge you're seeking."

"Don't you dare tell me that!" she hissed, jabbing Okita harshly in the shoulder. "When your sister died, you went and—"

"It's because of what I did that I'm telling you it's not worth it. Spending each day and night fixated on only one thing to the point that you make yourself sick is no way to live. Succeeding doesn't feel like a triumph. It makes you feel empty inside because no matter what you do to avenge your loved one, you can never get them back. You spend so long defined by revenge that when it's over, there's nothing left to live for in your life. But you'll definitely make enemies along the way." Okita growled back, raising his bandaged arm in front of her face. Through the gauze, she could see a long gash spanning the entirety of his forearm. "Enemies that will have you constantly looking over your shoulder. If you get careless, _this_ is what happens, Soyo. I know exactly what you're going through. You're not the only one who's lost someone important before. The difference is, you're not inescapably involved. Free yourself of this mess. Move on and live your life."

"No… The difference is, you got actual closure because you knew who was responsible. I spend every day haunted by my brother's ghost because I can't figure out a single damn thing," Soyo refuted staunchly.

He didn't respond for a while, silently sipping his tea, although he still didn't look like he was budging anytime soon.

"And all this time, what I've been looking for has been right here under my nose. My chance to avenge my brother… and Nobume _never_ told me! Neither did you!"

"You know why." Okita repeated wanly, staring at the documents like they were a true bother. "You'd stop at nothing to avenge your brother. Taking this on will require you to blow past whatever limits you might have, Soyo. You'll have to do things that you'll never be able to forget. This is not something you can turn back from."

"I know, okay?!" she shouted, banging her fist on the countertop and clattering the silverware.

Kojima turned and looked at Okita in worry, but he waved the old man's concerns away with a lazy gesture of his hand.

"I know what taking this case will do…" Soyo repeated helplessly. "But I… It's not even about the money. I need to take this case. For my brother. For _me_. I need closure, Sougo. It's been three years. I can't sleep. I can't eat properly. Every day, a cold anger simmers under my skin, a breath away from taking over and turning me into someone I won't even recognise. I can't live like this anymore. This isn't a life."

Consumed by grief. But filled with so much anger she couldn't stand it.

Her brother's honour resided on her now. And to get it back, she needed to find those responsible. No matter what it took.

She didn't like being vulnerable and she definitely did not want anyone to see that she'd been struggling with what happened for so long, but she trusted Okita. And he was the only one who knew the pain she was going through. She had thought that of anyone, at least he might understand why she was doing what she was doing.

Okita contemplated her for a while, his expression blank and unreadable, but years of being close friends with him had taught her how to read when he was thinking deeply about something or if he was being dismissive. A few minutes of quiet passed with only the sound of the frying eel around them as Kojima began on a second batch of food for customers.

"You've gotta understand where I'm coming from." She stared down at her fist, the chipped fingernails, scabs on her knuckles and puffy, bruised, and discoloured skin from all the fights she'd been in. "There's no meaning to life when you're lost like this."

He finally sighed heavily in annoyance and rubbed the back of his neck. "Soyo, even if we let you take the case, this isn't a one man job. These two pictured here are high up on Harusame's ranks apparently, one of them is an actual captain, and on top of that, they were of the defunct Yato yakuza clan. The Yato were known primarily for their legions of quality assassins. When the family crumbled, most of them became private contractors."

"Means nothing to me. Your point?"

"My point is," he rose a brow sceptically, "one wrong move, and you'll have a gang of murderous criminals after your head. You don't even know who actually did it."

"If I capture them, I can get the information I need," Soyo responded stubbornly.

That brought out a loud snort from Okita, who couldn't help but chuckle at her zeal. "Capture them? Two elite assassins. How?"

A small smile appeared on her face. She was definitely going to love ruining his day. "That's where you come in."

"You're not serious." He gave her a deadpan look, but when she simply returned it, he scowled. "I'm not helping you on this wild goose chase. I have orders from Hijikata already. I'm not to touch this case either."

"Oh I'm dead serious. You owe me since I helped you catch that Joui leader once."

"He escaped." Okita countered. "You really weren't any help at all."

"I used resources and my precious time to lure him into your trap, and he only got away because your Shinsengumi officers are bumbling morons. I'm calling my favour in now, so quit acting like a little bitch and help me, Sougo."

He looked peeved by her statements, but she knew he wouldn't outright object. Okita had been one of her family's security details way back when, and though he was no longer her bodyguard, she knew there was some part of him that still couldn't help but follow her orders.

"I can't just take time off work without a good reason."

"Find a way. You always do."

"Soyo… think about who you're going after here. Harusame isn't a gang to take lightly. They have eyes and ears everywhere and if it comes out that you're going after them, you'll have a target right on your back. You need to be smart about this. You need to make a proper plan before you go all out, gun ablazin. You know damn well your usual approach isn't going to work. You won't be getting off with just a scrape or a dislocated joint if you screw up."

"I don't care. Harusame is responsible for the death of my brother. And I'm going to make them _all_ pay if it's the last thing I do."

"It might actually be."

"Then so be it," she said decisively.

Okita rolled his eyes, picking up the file once again. "So that's it then? You're just going to go after these two unhinged looking siblings—who, might I add, we have no information about whatsoever—wanted in several prefectures for who knows what, capture them somehow, and then interrogate them to get the information you need? And this is assuming you even survive the first encounter with them in the first place."

It was true that in the pictures their eyes did have some crazy gleam in them that made Soyo hesitate a bit—not to mention the brother had a bloodthirsty smile that was chilling—but this was the first time in three years that she'd managed to find a proper lead on anything Harusame related. Nobume refused to divulge any information to her because of the sore topic of conversation, and it wasn't like Soyo could easily do some searching on her own when information on this was so well hidden. The Harusame wasn't one of the top secret crime organisations for nothing. They were so secretive and under the radar that some people honestly thought they were truly myths. There were times when Soyo had believed so as well.

Well, at least until they'd swiftly and brutally made their existence known to her and tore her life apart in one day.

"We just have to be careful not to incite their wrath." She patted Okita's cheek condescendingly. "You're a relatively good looking guy. Use your charms and seduce the sister. Give her a good dicking down to distract her, and I'll handle her psycho brother. Besides, you need to bone someone anyway. When was the last time you got laid?"

He ignored her quips. "This is a suicide mission. I always knew you were kind of nuts, Soyo, but honestly, not to this extent…"

"You can thank the Harusame for destroying the only life I knew for that." She snatched the papers out of his hand, folding them again and sticking them back into her jacket.

"Look." Okita suddenly looked exhausted. "I know you want your revenge, but do you really think this is the best way to go about this?"

"There are no other options, so what the hell am I supposed to do? It's been three years with no results. I'm not waiting anymore. So if you know anything at all— _anything_ —I'd be nice to get an idea of where to start to find these two assassin siblings. You're first division captain. You have to be informed. Please? Please help me? I need help from someone with easy access to all city resources."

"So you're using me."

"Sougo, please." She was this close to getting on the ground and grovelling, and part of her wondered if he would make her do it too.

But he simply shook his head in defeat.

"Fine. I'm not supposed to tell you this—"

"Since when do you care about the rules? Frankly I'm disgusted by your sudden growth of a moral conscience," she joked.

"—But Mimawarigumi and Shinsengumi have an informant. Well, I say informant, but really, he's a drug dealer who makes some deliveries and carries out some work for Harusame from time to time. It's been hard gaining his trust, but we've cut a deal with him to let him continue his work, and he gives us some information, for a price."

"You think he might know who the two of them are? Or where they are?"

He shrugged, taking out an old receipt from his pocket and a pen and scribbling on it. "There's a possibility. This is his name. That's all he goes by. He refuses to disclose his appearance to us and we're still not sure just how connected to Harusame he may be. For all we know, he could be one of the leaders or something."

Soyo took the paper from Okita when he slid it over to her. Daraku. She'd never heard of the name before, but she was sure doing a little bit of digging could turn up some clues about this man.

"How do I get in contact with him?"

Okita's brows furrowed. "You won't. Don't do something stupid like try to talk to or find this guy alone. If you contact him and try to get information, he could get suspicious and end the deal to protect himself. You could make us lose months' worth of investigation and work to even get an informant in the first place."

Soyo glowered at him. "Well then what the hell was the point of giving me this name?"

"It's a starting point so you can do research on Harusame. I didn't tell you his name so you could go interrogate him." Okita pulled out his wallet and removed a handful of bills which he placed on the counter under his bowl. "Stay out of the way of anything huge we're currently investigating, Soyo. This is too important an operation and we have too many undercover officers who could be endangered if you do something rash. Thanks for lunch, Kojima."

Without so much else as a nonchalant wave, he grabbed his uniform jacket and stood up, ambling back down the road to head back to work. Soyo sat in place for a while though, staring at the name on the paper and trying to determine how to go about finding this man.

She knew enough about the drug game in the streets of Edo that asking a few of her contacts might get her some details on their main suppliers which could get her some info on a high profile seller like Daraku, but her increasing infamy and her known affiliation with the police might put her at a disadvantage. Honour among thieves and what not. What she needed to do first was figure out his location.

And once she did that, screw Okita's warnings. She would definitely be interrogating him.


End file.
